Temperature dependence studies of tissue-mimicking phantoms for ultra-wideband microwave breast tumor detection

Microwave imaging (MWI) systems are being investigated for breast cancer diagnostics as an alternative to conventional x-ray mammography and breast ultrasound. This work aims at a next generation of tissue-mimicking phantoms modelling the temperature-dependent dielectric properties of breast tissue over a large frequency bandwidth. Such phantoms can be used to develop a novel kind of MWI systems that exploit the temperature-dependent permittivity of tissue as a natural contrast agent. Due to the higher water content in tumor tissue, a temperature increase leads to a different change in the complex permittivity compared to surrounding tissue. This will generate a tumor dominated scattering response when the overall tissue temperature increases by a few degrees, e.g. through the use of microwave hyperthermia systems. In that case a differential diagnostic image can be calculated between microwave measurements at reference (around 37 °C) and elevated temperature conditions. This work proposes the design and characterization of agar-oil-glycerin phantoms for fatty, glandular, skin and tumor tissue. The characterization includes measurements with an open-ended coaxial probe and a network analyzer for the frequency range from 50 MHz to 20 GHz in a temperature-controlled environment covering the temperature range from 25 °C to 46 °C. The phantoms show an unique temperature response over the considered frequency bandwidth leading to significant changes in the real and imaginary part of the complex permittivity. Comparative studies with porcine skin and fat tissue show a qualitative agreement.